Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher is in town for a run of her one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking," at the Hippodrome , and fans will have a couple of chances to chat with her, courtesy of the Baltimore County Public Library. Fisher was born to Hollywood stars Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and played Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies. But her life has been filled with challenges, including depression and addiction. Thursday, February 2nd, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., she'll discuss her books "Wishful Drinking" and "Shockaholic," at the library's Towson Branch.

Carrie Fisher is in town for a run of her one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking," at the Hippodrome , and fans will have a couple of chances to chat with her, courtesy of the Baltimore County Public Library. Fisher was born to Hollywood stars Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and played Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies. But her life has been filled with challenges, including depression and addiction. Thursday, February 2nd, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., she'll discuss her books "Wishful Drinking" and "Shockaholic," at the library's Towson Branch.

She survived drugs, booze, parental issues, complex relationships and a metal bikini, not to mention the electroconvulsive shock therapy that helps her cope with bipolar disorder. And Carrie Fisher has a lot to say about all of it. In 2006, the actress and writer who gained global fame as Princess Leia in the "Star Wars" saga poured her eventful life into an autobiographical show, "Wishful Drinking," which went on to play Broadway and was aired on HBO. On Tuesday, Fisher opens a two-week run of "Wishful Drinking" at the Hippodrome . "I've changed it a little bit," she said.

She survived drugs, booze, parental issues, complex relationships and a metal bikini, not to mention the electroconvulsive shock therapy that helps her cope with bipolar disorder. And Carrie Fisher has a lot to say about all of it. In 2006, the actress and writer who gained global fame as Princess Leia in the "Star Wars" saga poured her eventful life into an autobiographical show, "Wishful Drinking," which went on to play Broadway and was aired on HBO. On Tuesday, Fisher opens a two-week run of "Wishful Drinking" at the Hippodrome . "I've changed it a little bit," she said.

By Michael Harris and Michael Harris,LOS ANGELES TIMES | February 22, 2004

The Best Awful, by Carrie Fisher. Simon & Schuster. 272 pages. $24. Is mental illness funny? Suzanne Vale, the heroine of actress Carrie Fisher's fourth Hollywood novel, says it had better be. Having survived drug abuse and rehab in Fisher's debut, Postcards From the Edge, Suzanne rides the dizzying ups and terrifying downs of bipolar disorder in The Best Awful, emerging to crack jokes at benefits and otherwise comfort the similarly afflicted. Given her history with controlled substances, it's no surprise that Suzanne brings disaster on herself.

Carrie Fisher's winning wit has been tempered with depth of feeling.Her third novel, "Delusions of Grandma," manages to bring together the best elements of her first two books without succumbing to their flaws -- a lack of cohesion in "Postcards from the Edge" and the false notes of "Surrender the Pink."Her writing is as likable as ever -- flip, punny, poignant, stuffed with references to pop culture in general and Hollywood in particular. As an actress, Ms. Fisher has an insider's eye, and she uses her setting well -- as a colorful backdrop to the more important story: her characters' feelings and flaws as they fumble to do the right thing.

Carrie Fisher, 33, is curled up on a couch in a hotel suite in Las Vegas, nursing a cup of tea and eviscerating movie critic-TV star Gene Siskel.Siskel has just traipsed out of her interview lair after talking up the film version of "Postcards from the Edge," a book loosely based on her life as a second-generation Hollywood survivor -- and a survivor of personal drug wars. Fisher feels Siskel has missed the point of the film entirely.She's a multi-faceted pop phenomenon these days: Her second book, "Surrender the Pink," has recently been released; she appears in two movies to be released later this year, "Drop Dead Fred" and "Sibling Rivalry"; and she is writing a third book, "Christmas in Las Vegas."

Talking to Carrie Fisher over the phone is like chatting with your oldest girlfriend, the one you've known since forever and who's so smart, candid and funny about the travails of being a middle-aged, single mom. She's loyal, but willing to dish about her weight, her problematic parents and her exes. She's a little unhinged, but not so messed up that she's not fun to be with. "Someone once said, 'You're only as sick as your secrets,' " she says. "Well, I don't have any secrets anymore."

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Carrie Fisher grew up on a planet called Hollywood. It was a place that was a little bit like the rest of America, but different in key particulars. The house where young Carrie and her brother, Todd, were raised had eight miniature pink refrigerators, she says, so the family would be prepared "if Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs came to visit." The grounds of the estate had three swimming pools "in case two broke." And how would Fisher describe the year her celebrity parents, actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher, divorced (she was 2)

Carrie Fisher says mom in 'Postcards' isn't hersWhile Carrie Fisher's movie "Postcards From the Edge" may be a roman a clef of sorts about her own drug use and hard time growing up in Hollywood, Ms. Fisher wants it known that the film's tempestuous, boozy mother is not based on her real mom, Debbie Reynolds."

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Carrie Fisher grew up on a planet called Hollywood. It was a place that was a little bit like the rest of America, but different in key particulars. The house where young Carrie and her brother, Todd, were raised had eight miniature pink refrigerators, she says, so the family would be prepared "if Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs came to visit." The grounds of the estate had three swimming pools "in case two broke." And how would Fisher describe the year her celebrity parents, actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher, divorced (she was 2)

Talking to Carrie Fisher over the phone is like chatting with your oldest girlfriend, the one you've known since forever and who's so smart, candid and funny about the travails of being a middle-aged, single mom. She's loyal, but willing to dish about her weight, her problematic parents and her exes. She's a little unhinged, but not so messed up that she's not fun to be with. "Someone once said, 'You're only as sick as your secrets,' " she says. "Well, I don't have any secrets anymore."

You want fame?" Debbie Allen used to preach on TV. "Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying. With sweat." And a plane ticket. To L.A. Because to make it in music or TV or the movies, L.A.'s where the young, the beautiful and the ambitious need to be. They're all rock stars, movie stars or TV phenomena in the making. They're just Undiscovered. Pell James and Steven Strait star in this end-of-summer trifle about a model who just wants to act and a songwriter who wants to play because, "It's all about the music, man."

By Michael Harris and Michael Harris,LOS ANGELES TIMES | February 22, 2004

The Best Awful, by Carrie Fisher. Simon & Schuster. 272 pages. $24. Is mental illness funny? Suzanne Vale, the heroine of actress Carrie Fisher's fourth Hollywood novel, says it had better be. Having survived drug abuse and rehab in Fisher's debut, Postcards From the Edge, Suzanne rides the dizzying ups and terrifying downs of bipolar disorder in The Best Awful, emerging to crack jokes at benefits and otherwise comfort the similarly afflicted. Given her history with controlled substances, it's no surprise that Suzanne brings disaster on herself.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,SUN TELEVISION CRITIC | February 12, 2001

I can't remember the last time I saw a made-for-TV movie that wasted more talent or had a worse script than "These Old Broads," starring Shirley MacLaine, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds and Joan Collins. The script is by Carrie Fisher ("Postcards From the Edge") and Elaine Pope ("Seinfeld"). Ten minutes in, I started wondering if they wrote it on drugs. I'm not trying to make a joke; I just can't imagine how else two writers with decent track records could come up with such an inane story.

Carrie Fisher's winning wit has been tempered with depth of feeling.Her third novel, "Delusions of Grandma," manages to bring together the best elements of her first two books without succumbing to their flaws -- a lack of cohesion in "Postcards from the Edge" and the false notes of "Surrender the Pink."Her writing is as likable as ever -- flip, punny, poignant, stuffed with references to pop culture in general and Hollywood in particular. As an actress, Ms. Fisher has an insider's eye, and she uses her setting well -- as a colorful backdrop to the more important story: her characters' feelings and flaws as they fumble to do the right thing.

You want fame?" Debbie Allen used to preach on TV. "Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying. With sweat." And a plane ticket. To L.A. Because to make it in music or TV or the movies, L.A.'s where the young, the beautiful and the ambitious need to be. They're all rock stars, movie stars or TV phenomena in the making. They're just Undiscovered. Pell James and Steven Strait star in this end-of-summer trifle about a model who just wants to act and a songwriter who wants to play because, "It's all about the music, man."

Television Soap Opera, a very easy lampoon, eludes the makers of the film ''Soapdish'' for a half hour or so. For that long, you wonder when these people are going to find their target. Then Kevin Kline appears and the movie begins to zing.It's not just the fact that Kline is on the scene. The others are as funny as he is. It's just that the film takes off when he appears, and the laughs begin.The movie, written by Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman, takes place at a television studio where the long-running daytime soap, ''The Sun Also Sets,'' continues along with Celeste Talbert (Sally Field)

New York -- Maybe it has to do with Carrie Fisher's not-so-repressed wish to have a session with her psychoanalyst, or maybe it's because after four days of talking to reporters she's just plain tired. Whatever the reason, Carrie Fisher is conducting an interview from a semi-reclining position in her suite at the posh St. Regis Hotel."The other day I got on the elevator here and I pushed 16 because that's the floor my shrink is on," says Ms. Fisher, visibly amused at the sly way her unconscious expressed itself.

She's the enforcer of Hollywood, but her clout is in food, not film.With her long blond hair and super-svelte shape, Yolanda Bergman has the glamorous looks of a movie star. She isn't one, but she advises many of them in her real-life role as the "food cop."That's the nickname she's acquired and the name of the book she was in Seattle to promote the other day. In "Food Cop" (Bantam Books, $24.50, with Daryn Eller), Ms. Bergman supplies the same eating advice she dishes out to her clients in Los Angeles.